Oilers lose 3-2 in OT: Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

[Replacement*]

What an excellent post Arsix. wow.

 

[Senor Catface]

Another 40 shots against.

Ho-hum.

The way we are riding Duby, there's no way he keeps up his insane save percentage of the last few games.

Lottery here we come.

Man, it's like Replacement said years ago.

You pop in only when the Oilers lose just to moan and complain. Try stopping in after a win for a change. Christ.

 

[McDNicks17]

The captions are pretty good on those.

And yeah, most of us pegged that on Eberle last night.

 

[ARSix]

What an excellent post Arsix. wow.

Credit goes to Daniel Wagner, not me, who does this kind of breakdown as a feature on occasion.

 

[Senor Catface]

The captions are pretty good on those.

And yeah, most of us pegged that on Eberle last night.

I think everyone blamed Eberle, didn't they?

It was boneheaded.

 

[CupofOil]

Hall-Gagner-Eberle
Yakupov-RNH-Hemsky

Please.

Hemsky and RNH had some great chemistry last year I think him & #64 could get Hopkins going. Gagner looked really good in between Hall & Ebs last year too so that should be a no-brainer.

Exactly this except that i would switch Yak and Hemsky. Yak doesn't look comfortable on the left side, he's a natural fit on the right side where he can utilize his shot better and Hemsky has played the left side in the past effectively as far as i can recall.

 

[fuswald]

Since many are saying Nuge has an excellent defensive game going on

Put Nuge on the third shutdown line so he can stop worrying about his offense for a while. Smyth might work great with this and help Nuge chill as well (sure would be nice if Jones was healthy and on this line)

Arco on the first (he is used to lots of minutes on a first line, his face off is almost respectable and has played with Hall and Eberle with some success in the AHL) until someone better is healthy.

Leave the better and better every game second line alone (don't mess with the best scoring line we have)

Other teams would be tearing their hair out trying to figure out which is the first line.

 

[s7ark]

Credit goes to Daniel Wagner, not me, who does this kind of breakdown as a feature on occasion.

If it isn't your work I would ask that you post a link to it instead.

 

[ARSix]

If it isn't your work I would ask that you post a link to it instead.

I credited it twice, in the original post and in that reply, and doubt Daniel would mind, but here is the link anyway.

http://vansunsportsblogs.com/2013/02/05/breakdowning-chris-tanevs-glorious-first-nhl-goal/

 

[guymez]

Because you all would likely never see this not following Vancouver bloggers, here is a breakdown of the OT goal and what Yakupov did right and wrong on the play. IMO, he is not at fault - Eberle is the goat here.

First, the goal.



The remainder of this post is credit to Daniel Wagner of TheScore.com and PassItToBulis.

Missing from the above clip is the fact that Tanev was the one who rushed the puck up ice, gained the zone, and out-battled Ladislav Smid to get the puck to Daniel Sedin, which is where we begin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tanev below the opposition goal line before, yet there he was going coast-to-coast and getting to the puck first after chipping it in.

At this point, the Sedins have a 2-on-1 down low. Daniel would normally look to pass here, but the puck hops over his stick (the ice at Rexall Place is pretty terrible) and Yakupov does well to get some pressure on him from behind, forcing Daniel to just throw the puck on net.

Also, please note that Eberle is standing around doing nothing. This will come up again.

Daniel’s shot is kicked away by Dubnyk to the boards, where the Oilers look to outnumber Henrik and win possession of the puck. With 28 seconds left, the Oilers have enough time for another rush up ice, or they can rag the puck and take the game to the shootout, where they’ve already edged the Canucks once this season and, with their bevy of young, flashy stars, would likely have the advantage.

Petry, Eberle, and Yakupov all head to the puck, looking like they’ll out-man Henrik 3-1. Yakupov recognizes this and peels off, pointing Eberle toward the boards with his stick, while he returns to the slot to cover Tanev. This is, undoubtedly, the right play. At this point, everything is fine for the Oilers.

Everything is not fine for the Oilers. Keith “I was here the whole time!” Ballard pinches down the boards, and Eberle, instead of engaging in the battle on the boards, is coasting out to centre ice in hopes of catching a breakaway pass. Tanev shades out to the neutral zone to cover him. Meanwhile, the play has gone from a 3-on-1 for the Oilers to a 2-on-1 for the Canucks.

This makes Yakupov sad.

Ballard makes a fantastic play along the boards, kicking the puck behind his left skate with his right to Daniel. He will not score his first assist and point of the season on this play, which will eventually lead to Canucks fans questioning why he’s not putting up points while playing such easy minutes, until he’s once again the scapegoat for all the Canucks problems. Hey, if it’s not going to be Luongo, it has to be somebody.

Yakupov makes his one mistake on the play, skating directly at Henrik Sedin when Daniel feeds him the puck. Normally this would make sense: attack the puck carrier, particularly as he heads to a dangerous scoring area. But these are the Sedins and you can’t defend them the same way: the puck carrier is frequently the least dangerous player on the ice when you’re dealing with the Sedins. But Yakupov’s a rookie and he doesn’t know this yet.

Really, Smid has decent position on Henrik and Petry will be able to get back to Daniel, so Yakupov isn’t needed there. Where he is needed is the slot, which is exactly where Tanev skates as soon as Daniel gets the puck.

This is the exact moment that Yakupov realizes he’s made a terrible mistake. After a quick give and go between the Sedins, Daniel finds Tanev wide open with plenty of time to shoot.

Oh, and there’s Eberle.

To Yakupov’s credit, he absolutely sells out for the shot block, nearly getting nailed in the head. He’s lucky this puck misses him. When he gets up, he’s still pretty. That’s not the case if he successfully blocks this shot with his face.

Instead, the puck finds the back of the net as Tanev places it just inside the post.

It doesn’t get much better than scoring an overtime game winner as your first ever NHL goal. And he has the Sedins to thank, for their wizardry, Eberle to thank, for bailing on a battle along the boards in hopes of being the hero himself, and Yakupov to thank, for being an inexperienced rookie who doesn’t know how to defend against the Sedins.

Frankly, while Eberle and Yakupov have a history of “clutch” play, you can question Ralph Kreuger’s decision to put them up against the Sedins for the game’s final shift. Here’s Oilers blog Boys on the Bus doing exactly that:

Excellent post...thank you for contributing that.

Sadly this isn't the first time Krugers ability to line match has been thrown into question.

 

[seguino]

Bring in M.A Bergeron and Cory Cross strictly for the last minute of overtime.

 

[IV XIV XCI]

Bottom line is this. Until we learn how to win faceoffs against the best teams in the league, we are going to continually get pinned in our own end and out shot by a 3:2 margin over the course of 60 minutes.

Granted our best 2 faceoff takers got injured, the numbers were frankly embarassing. This has been the case for the last half-decade plus.

Inexcusable. Ryan Smyth has become our go to go on faceoffs. Really? I commend smytty but someone needs to get their cajones and learn to own the dot. It costs us and makes BigD (dubnyk) have to face an extra 8-12 shots per night and makes our talented players chase the puck around.

Improve in the little areas fellas. That's what playoff teams do.

I feel like the Oilers are getting better but at the same time we have many more strides to take before we are able to call ourselves a "good team".

Good teams make the playoffs.

Great teams win in the playoffs.

Right now we are trying to figure out how to be good.

 

[Soundwave]

I don't have a problem with Krueger willing to play Yakupov and Eberle against the Sedins. If you want to be the best, then play against the best.

I have a problem with Eberle flying the zone and effectively leaving his team on a 4-on-3 penalty kill with 19 seconds left. That's why that goal goes in, if Eberle was still in the zone the points should have been covered.

Also yeah, Yakupov, love the intent, but best not to try and block a shot with your face.

 

[Replacement*]

I don't have a problem with Krueger willing to play Yakupov and Eberle against the Sedins. If you want to be the best, then play against the best.

I have a problem with Eberle flying the zone and effectively leaving his team on a 4-on-3 penalty kill with 19 seconds left. That's why that goal goes in, if Eberle was still in the zone the points should have been covered.

Also yeah, Yakupov, love the intent, but best not to try and block a shot with your face.

No doubt he watched the "GOON" movie. Don't try this at home kids..

Its unreal that a pro player would leave zone on 4 on 4 play in OT. Not sure what he was thinking expecially with 20sec left. Other than tunnel vision.

 

[czar99]

Worst part is I didn't even win my vcash for bettin against the oilers.

 

[seguino]

Worst part is I didn't even win my vcash for bettin against the oilers.

Living in Vancouver, worst part for me is the friggin texts I get from my buddies. Also, Oil losing to Canucks ruins my drive to and from work. sports radio = off
Blue and Orange look extremely blahhhhh

 

[Aceboogie]

I posted this in another thread. Schultz playing alot of very tough minutes and suceeding

 

[thadd]

Hall-Gagner-Eberle
Harti-RNH-Hemsky
MPS-Lander(?)-Yakupov

Something like that. The top line isn't terrible, but something needs to get our ES scoring juices flowing. We're 28th in the NHL in 5v5 GF right now. Tied with Florida and 1 more than Nashville.

I think I agree. Gagner is a better all around player than Nuge and will feel comfortable playing playmaker with Eberle and Hall. Hartikainen will make space for Nuge and Hemsky. Yakupov can play easier minutes on the third line. If MPS can be smart with passing the puck that line will fly well.

 

[Suxnet]

I have a suggestion for the top 6 which is simple enough to spark some much needed offense as well as not mess up chemistry too much.

Hall-RNH-Hemsky
Yak-Gagner-Eberle

The top line has trouble gaining the O-zone and Hemsky is a master of that. Also RNH has shown some good chemistry with Hemsky before too. Eberle already has a lot of chemistry with Gagner, so he goes to the 2nd line, which means that Yakupov can carry the puck more with the absence of Hemsky.

If the lack of offense persists, then something more drastic can happen but, to me, this looks and sounds pretty good on paper.

 

[misfit]

Before Hemsky got hurt, Hall-Nuge-Hemsky was amazing last season. I'd be fine with that as a unit against Dallas.

The problem is, even with Eberle in his spot, the Gagner-Yakupov line just doesn't look right without Hemsky. I'd almost try switching out Hall and Yakupov or Gagner and Nuge first if you're going to shuffle the top 6.

 

[McDNicks17]

I think Gagner and Eberle have the most underrated chemistry in our forward group.

If we're switching people around, I'd want to see them together.

 

[McGoMcD]

Meh, I actually don't like the idea of a switch, Hall-nuge-ebs have had tons of chances, they will go in. Hemmer-gags-yaks is working really well as a line. Why change it up? However, if I was to switch lines around. I would just switch gagns and NUge up. Nuge might really jell with Yaks.

 

[booyakasha]

this board is like living with Sybil....the multiple personalities of posters is dizzying.

 

[The Nuge]

Living in Vancouver, worst part for me is the friggin texts I get from my buddies. Also, Oil losing to Canucks ruins my drive to and from work. sports radio = off
Blue and Orange look extremely blahhhhh

It's not even just sports radio. It seems like every damn station feels the need to spend all morning taking jabs whenever they beat us

 

[Gret99zky]

It's not even just sports radio. It seems like every damn station feels the need to spend all morning taking jabs whenever they beat us

I find that in public all the other fans and commentators talk about how talented and improved the Oilers are this year.

And then behind closed doors they are all high-fiving each other saying, "Same old same old. "

****ing sucks.